I’m of the camp that believes a writer can make their own luck through hard, hard work. In a sense, the first part of an author’s career is an apprenticeship to Writing. To experiment, practice, (and above all), write. Again, dare to suck. The only way to write amazing, get-noticed material is through writing dull stuff, wrong stuff, first drafts, embarassing ideas, the grocery list, if necessary, as long as you keep the pen (or keyboard) moving.

When we write, we train our brains to write. To think. To create. It’s no different than anything else we do, from drawing, knitting, riding, *fill in the blank*. We don’t draw perfect people, knit perfect sweaters, gallop and sidestep right out of the gate. First, we learn. We practice, put in the hours. Study what those further ahead of us know. Be willing to fail. But, also be willing to get back up, get back to the page.

Neither magical thinking nor daydreams of ones books on the shelves will make it happen over the long haul. The best tool a writer has is hard work — to keep writing — to persevere.

After writing three YA novels, navigating a close call with my previous manuscript, and spending four months on Query Road for my present work, hollyrusken@yahoo.com, I received an offer of representation on Thursday — and another on Saturday!

As if that isn’t heady enough, three more agents are making their decisions by Monday, and I eagerly await agent-phone-call-number-three Monday afternoon.

To say my head is spinning would be the understatement of the century!

After years of drought, the floodgates have opened. I feel so many emotions — relieved, excited!, thankful, validated, and the list goes on and on. The champagne, chillin’ in the fridge for ten months, has been cracked …

One word -- YUM!

… the roses sniffed …

From my husband, my staunchest supporter.

… and happy dancing has commenced all over the house, even if it causes the terriers to bark at their crazy, face-hurts-from-grinning-so-hard human being.

I wish I could adequately convey the feeling of a lifetime of hope and dreams mixed with years of hard, hard work culminating in the representation I’ve been dreaming of!

I will, when I can. But more so, I want to reiterate to my fellow travelers that the dream is POSSIBLE, DOABLE, REACHABLE if you continue to work hard, believe in yourself, and most of all, SHINE!

At eleven, after saving up money from odd jobs done for neighbors, I paid for and attended a children’s writing workshop. I’d thought it was a workshop for child writers; to my surprise, it was a workshop for writers of children’s literature!

The adult writers thought it was so cute that I was there, but the mistake didn’t faze me — I considered myself a “serious writer”, and I learned so much that day. There were agents in attendance who were extra kind and encouraging, who praised my iniative and advised me to keep writing — that, one day, I’d get there.

I was there to learn, not to pitch my manuscript, although I had a finished one at that point in time. While it’s different for everyone, I wasn’t close to (emotionally) ready for the harsh realities of Query Road.

Which brings me to my point: lately I’ve noticed, while frequenting writers’ blogs and groups, some extremely young writers pushing for publication, or for publication before *insert very young magic age here*.

While there are some amazing younger writers, statistically there are few writing prodigies for a reason: it often takes emotional seasoning and years of life experience to write a novel that resonates with a broad audience.

Most readers won’t think a book is special because the writer is under eighteen; most of us don’t consider a writer’s age when we read a novel. A book is special when the writing is special, when it touches something inside us or opens our hearts and minds to new worlds, or new ways of thinking and being.

There’s no magic age when it comes to publishing, and no shortcuts; being young doesn’t earn a writer special treatment, nor with a ready manuscript should it bar a young writer from representation. Talent develops at different paces — for example, S.E. Hinton was fifteen when she began writing The Outsiders, and eighteen when the novel was published. Frank McCourt published his debut novel, Angela’s Ashes, at the age of sixty-six.

I happen to believe that’s the best part of being a writer — how, no matter ones age, race, gender, height, weight, appearance, we all have a shot — when the writing is ready — and that’s the trick: that there are no tricks, only solid writing, belief in the dream, and practice, practice, practice.